Hey, Snow Queen, Why'd You Steal My Boyfriend?
by A Fire in the Attic
Summary: She should have known that Operation: Cobra wouldn't end with the breaking of the curse. 25 Days of Ficmas. Two-shot.
1. Part One

**Prompt: Eggnog**

**Word Count: 628**

**Hey, Snow Queen, Why'd You Steal My Boyfriend?**

* * *

Emma should not be surprised that Henry has taken on the role of census worker, because it means the kid gets to run around asking people nosy questions and get paid for it.

But the kid's only just turned 11, and that means someone has to follow him around. Sometimes Emma does it, sometimes it's Regina, and sometimes it's David or Mary Margaret.

But usually it's Emma or Regina. Being his mothers and all.

Though they started taking the census in September, it's taken longer than they would have thought, and December has arrived with wet snow that clings to all of Emma's coats. But she puts up with it because Henry is important to her, and this is important to Henry.

It goes like this: Henry marches up to the door of the home, knocks twice and waits. When the door opens, he introduces himself. And then, "What was your name while you were in Storybrooke?"

A typical answer might be "Alison Meyers."

Henry would nod, locate the name in his packet, and then ask, "And back home?" Calling it home is the easiest way to say it, even if there's no indication that there's a home worth going to. Storybrooke, at least for the time being, is home.

But they know what he means. "I was Gerda," Alison answers, smiling. She tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

Henry nods, and thumbs through a second packet—this one of various fairy tale characters and their stories. "Ah," he says, triumphant. "From The Snow Queen."

It's not a fairytale Emma is familiar with, so she just waits to see if Alison—Gerda?—will confirm it.

"I rescued my friend Kai from the Snow Queen, yes," Gerda agrees. She looks a little sad at that.

This is where Emma steps in. After all, she's still the sheriff. "Have you found Kai?" she asks. The curse had broken up families, and for a tiny town, there are a surprising number of…characters? People.

Gerda sighs. "Yes, but unfortunately, when we were cursed, he ended up married to the Snow Queen—her name is Lydia Masters, here, by the way—and now that magic is back, Lydia was able to hypnotize him again."

Emma tries not to groan, but Henry looks excited at the prospect of a new mission for Operation: Cobra.

"We'll be glad to help you recover him," Henry says.

"You won't do anything," Emma says, shaking her head. "I'll take care of it. Can you come down to the station tomorrow? I'll need to get more information about Lydia and Kai."

Gerda smiles and nods. "I can do that. And I got him back once, so maybe it won't be a problem again."

Emma smiles tightly and doesn't argue, because if Gerda hasn't figured out by now that Storybrooke is totally different than…Fairytale Land? Well. She'll learn soon. Nothing is the same.

"Let's get eggnog," Henry says when they've finished covering the block. They discovered six new character identities and two new missing people. All in a day's work, as Doc would say.

"I don't like eggnog," Emma says, frowning, but she drives them to Granny's anyway. She figures that's probably the best place to go for anything food or beverage wise, and when Henry inevitably convinces her to try eggnog, she at least wants to make sure it's better than normal.

They sit down at their usual table, and Henry orders two eggnogs from Ruby.

Emma rolls her eyes. Of course he didn't even give her a chance to argue.

But the eggnog isn't awful, even in it's non-alcoholic state. She gives him that.

"So," Henry says, smiling. "What's the plan?"

"Research," she replies.

Henry nods sagely, and says, "You'll need more eggnog, then."

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Once Upon a Time (or the title, which is a play on the new Adventure Time Game.)

**A/N**: Written for the 25 Days of Ficmas (link on profile). This is apparently a two-shot. I have no idea if this remotely fits into cannon as I've not yet seen (at least) the last two episodes, but, uh, this is fanfiction...so.

Next time: Emma and Gerda retrieve Kai.


	2. Part Two

**Prompt: Sled**

**Word Count: 1229**

**Hey, Snow Queen, Why'd You Steal My Boyfriend: Part Two**

* * *

Allison arrives at the station the next day around ten. Henry is sitting on Emma's desk, swinging his legs like he owns the place.

It makes Emma roll her eyes, but whatever. If she'd raised him, he might not swing his legs, but he'd probably be twenty different kinds of messed up. So really, she should be grateful for Regina's methods.

Allison walks over, smiling easily. She seems remarkably calm for someone who's about to go on a mission to rescue a friend? Boyfriend? From a witch who could easily be as powerful as Regina, and who was obviously not using her powers for good.

"We need any information you have about Kai and, ah, Lydia," Emma said when Allison took a seat in front of the desk.

"We already know how you cried and melted the splinters out of his heart when you were younger," Henry says quickly. "We need to know weaknesses."

"Well, the Snow Queen can only survive happily when there's cold air around her. That's where all the snow came from—the return of magic and the cold season gave her a few extra abilities," Allison explains. "I don't know if she's put more troll-mirror splinters in his heart, but I suspect she may have learned to take hearts."

Emma grunts. "Why can everyone do that?" she complained quietly.

"Maybe you should learn," Henry deadpans, and Emma kind of gapes at him because he's picking up her humor now and that's something new and strange and beautiful all at once. "Just don't go evil…please?" Ah, there's Henry.

Henry comes along for the rescue mission because school's out for the break and Emma couldn't stop him even if she locked him in his bedroom. And asked Regina to seal the place with magic. Somehow, he'd escape.

His vehicle of choice for reaching Lydia's house ("At the center of the snowy woods," Allison explained) is a red sled, which he's dragging along behind him.

Emma and Allison are walking, but when Henry tears down a hill and has to wait for them, they both sigh and regret not bringing their own sleds.

Finally, they get to the house, Henry perched on a sled waiting.

Allison makes Henry stand still while she looks into his eyes, maybe looking for splinters. Emma doesn't know. Henry gave her a crash course in the fairy tale, so she knows the basics, but the details are totally lost on her. The idea of a troll mirror is still foreign to her; she just gets that it makes you lose sight of who you are. Or something.

Allison must decide Henry is safe, because she just nods, and jerks her head toward the house. The three of them approach.

Emma knocks, because she's the sheriff and the savior, and that holds sway even with the baddies.

The woman who opens the door has dark black hair, white skin, and grey eyes that seem kind of hazy. She looks like winter.

Which makes sense if she's the Snow Queen.

"Hello," Emma says. "I'm looking for someone named Kai."

Lydia stills, and her eyes narrow. There wasn't a smile on her face to begin with, but now her expression is even darker, if that's possible, and she coolly shakes her head. "Not here."

Emma sighs. "I have a superpower, see," she says, shaking her head in return. "I can tell when people are lying. Right now, you are."

Lydia's pale white cheeks flush pink, and a breeze picks up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Emma says, because by this point she can tell when something is magical.

"I see you brought Gerda," Lydia says, eyes flicking to the blonde girl standing behind Emma.

"It's Allison now," Allison says quickly, stepping forward. "I quite liked the new me. I'm not quite so innocent." She rushes past Emma, then, slamming into Lydia.

Lydia stumbles backward until Allison has her caged in at the wall. She snarls at Allison. "I'll have you arrested for assault."

Emma, the officer who would probably end up doing the arresting, snaps, "Allison. Let her go." Then she shoves into the house because this is Storybrooke, and the law here is different than the rest of Maine. She doesn't need a warrant. "Where's the guy?"

Allison follows Emma, though she pauses to glare at Lydia and beckons for Henry to pass her and walk between them.

"You can search the house," Lydia says. "You won't find any prisoners. Kai is here of his own free will."

"So what's this?" Emma asks, tapping a chest with the insignia of a heart on it. Really, the villains are getting more and more obvious. It might as well be a Disney movie.

"Jewelry box," Lydia replies, unbothered.

Emma shrugs and opens the box, digs through the chains, and pulls out the pulsing pink heart. "I'll ask again. Where is the boy?"

Lydia is angry. Her eyes flicker to the still open door, and a gust of wind and snow rush into the house, wrapping around Emma tightly. "He's not here."

Emma's hair is caught up in her face and she tries to push it away uselessly. She feels a shaft of icy cold wind slam into her stomach, no longer just swirling but actually pushing. She falls down, still holding onto the heart. She does her best not to crush it, and yells, "Lying!"

Henry and Allison must be fighting Lydia somehow, because after a few moments of being _sure_ she was going to get frostbite, the wind leaves Emma, and she sits up to see Allison _pummeling_ Lydia. Her knuckles are bloody and Henry looks a little horrified.

"Not so innocent at all," Lydia mocks, spitting blood at Allison.

Shaking, Allison stands. "It's a harsher world," she says, and then helps Lydia to her feet. "Where is he?"

"The back room," Lydia says, trembling. She'll respect Allison.

Allison turns to Emma, and holds out her hand. "The heart," she says, swallowing nervously.

Emma gives it to her and moves to check on Lydia. "Are you okay?" she asks.

Lydia bats her away. "She was so innocent before," she says, shaking her head. "That's how she beat me back home." She looks at Emma and wipes the blood off her lips. "But she's right, isn't she? It's a harsher world."

Emma tries not to think about what that means, even though she knows Lydia is right. She thinks about how lucky she is that Regina raised Henry in relative safety, and left her to sort herself out, alone on the streets.

* * *

Allison and Kai come into the station to give their statements. Since Kai seems genuinely happy to be back with Allison instead of Lydia, Emma decides to forget Allison's assault on Lydia. She'd do the same for Henry, and anyway, Lydia isn't pressing charges. She seems resigned to the fact that she won't have Kai.

"Thank you for your help," Allison says as they're leaving.

Emma just nods and wonders how the curse messed everything up—made gentle people harder and the baddies sympathetic.

But maybe they did that on their own. If she'd learned anything from being the savior, it was that there really was no black and white.

Emma had lived in grey area all her life. She wasn't sure why the concept was so difficult to grasp.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Once Upon a Time.

**A/N**: This got a little bit heavier than I expected, but, uh, there you go. Written for the 25 Days of Ficmas (link on profile).


End file.
